Make a list of what to say to the Labour canvasser about EHRC etc

[RogueFemale]

I say this because I missed an opportunity to say what I thought about Labour, when a canvasser visited recently, i.e. the failure to approve the EHRC guidance following on from the For Women Scotland judgment. I was distracted, not expecting a canvasser, kicked myself afterwards.

I now have a written list by the front door of what I want to say.

(I'm also anti-reduction in jury trials, anti-assisted suicide, etc, but that's another story).

I absolutely do plan to ask someone from a political party knocking on my door some questions on their policies. Why do you think that’s “kicking off”?

They chose to knock my door and engage with me.

I’m fed up of claims that these issues never come up on the doorstep so I will raise them with anyone from a political party that chooses to engage with me.

I'll add this question to the front door notes to canvassers.

If you're in England, the Women's Rights Network has done an excellent "Waiting Shame" report that lists all the councils which are kicking the supreme court ruling into the long grass.

I'll be using it to ask my any Labour canvassers why their councillors don't protect women's rights.

https://017ee2dd-4ea6-4d7f-869c-a043485bcc87.filesusr.com/ugd/a86851_f6ac84e65c9747fbb18b96d79839d3a3.pdf

Worth asking what their position on puberty blockers is - the trial hasn't gone away. I'm sure they think if they lay low for a bit they'll be able to resurrect it.

If the canvasser says something about "needing the evidence" and "medical trial" you could try asking a few questions like:

• how certain are you that any trial of puberty blockers would not irrevocably harm the participants (i.e. children)? That the trial has been postponed suggests that others have doubts.
• why do you think these children need their puberty blocking?
• what benefits do you think that will have for them?
• do you have any thoughts about the fact these children will have a permanently higher risk of cancer, osteoporosis, will be infertile and have a higher risk of dementia?
• what will happen to these children after the trial? Does it presuppose that they will go on to take cross-sex hormones? If not, then what does their future look like?

I've canvassed for Labour in the past. The person knocking at your door might know very little about the issue. Canvassers are told to answer what they can, not to get drawn into issues they don't know about, and explain that they'll raise your questions/concerns with the candidate. They have to report back on every conversation to the person in charge of the team, and it all gets logged. If you get the feeling that the canvasser doesn't know much about sex & gender, make it very clear that Labour implementing the FWS judgement is core to them getting your vote. (Or whatever specific policy you choose, but make sure it's something concrete, not just an abstract "does Labour know what a woman is" or similar.) That will then be logged and fed into the party machinery. If the issue gets raised a lot, party bosses will take note. If it doesn't come up much, they won't pay it any attention. That's why it's always worth raising the issue, even if the canvasser on your particular doorstep doesn't seem to get it.

These are fantastic questions, but they're more likely questions for the candidate, not a random canvasser. You may get lucky and have a canvasser who's knowledgeable enough to be able to engage thoughtfully with those questions, but most wouldn't know where to begin - canvassers are mostly volunteers without specialist knowledge. Make sure the person at your door knows you want Labour to permanently halt the puberty blockers trial, and that will be what gets logged by the team leader and forms part of the doorstep data seen by party bosses. You can also ask for the candidate to get back to you if you want to discuss the questions with them, but it won't always be possible for them to do that - they're likely out on doorsteps all day and at hustings in the evening.

Door knockers may not be able to answer detailed questions about sex and gender, but they're able and required to report every issue raised to the person leading the team on the day, who logs it. The data then gets reported to the party bosses. Yes, lobby MPs by all means. But please raise the issue on the doorstep so that the parties know it's important when it comes to voting. Raising questions isn't "kicking off", it's what parties expect voters to do and the reason for campaigning on doorsteps.

Many thanks @PhilOPastry62 very helpful

If a candidate or canvasser doesn't know what policies they're campaigning for, they should. If they can't answer a question, being asked it ought to make them look into it and think about whether they agree.

You may not change party policy by talking to canvasser, but there's at least a possibility you will change the canvasser. And they cast their own vote as well as trying to persuade others to do so.

But they're not canvassing about national policies - they are canvassing about bins, potholes and the state of the town centre.

I suppose the question is, do I want the town services and resources run by someone signed up to a party that hates women and gay people? (And disabled people, disabled kids, the elderly, schools....)

I want somebody who can run a balanced budget, fill the potholes and make sure the bins are emptied to schedule, and make sure any spillage from rubbish is cleared up.

I don't want someone who prioritises closing libraries, youth centres and selling the town hall.

Tbh I don't think the potholes are going to get filled in whoever you vote for at this point.

If they are canvassing on behalf of a party, and presumably voting for that party themselves, they should be familiar with the party policies - local and national.

I'm not arguing that they should be able to quote the entire manifesto and all the details, but that they should be aware of what overall principles they are supporting. As should any voter. By asking them questions you can make them think about whether that's something they actually do wish to sign up to. Think of it as reverse campaigning.

And national policy has local impact on what services are prioritised and how they are provided. Will the road budget go on potholes or on rainbow zebra crossings that confuse guide dogs? Will the refurbishment of the council leisure centre change the single sex changing rooms to a family changing village (even in the face of police opposition, as in Stevenage recently)?

We recently got our local swimming baths opened again after a refurb.
I asked the Labour canvasser if there were going to be uni-sex toilets and changing rooms and if so would they provide Safe Spaces for women and girls ? They didn't know,

I also asked them if they knew what a "women" was. They couldn't answer.

They couldn't answer any questions about potholes.

Quite useless really🙄

Hello canvasser i am glad you called around.

Please take out your pen and paper, i will speak slowly so you can make notes.

Please do not interrupt. I am happy to discuss the matters after i have stated them.

1 To be clear i am a life long Labour voter, whose grandparents were founding members of the labour movement.

2 I will not vote Labour (or anyone else for that matter) unless and until they fully implement the ECHR guidance, in line with the FWS SC ruling

3 I will not vote Labour (or anyone else of a similar view) that panders to the Islamic vote that promotes the shrouding of women, arranged marriages, sharia law, and the isolation and oppression of women in ethnic communities. And who does not call out such oppressive habits.

4 I will not vote Labour locally because as identified by WRN you are not compliant with the FWS ruling and therefore have no respect for the rule of law.

i may change add/ depending on further posts.

thanks op

Ours are, in utter contrast to the neighboring borough who have higher council tax and debt.

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I've now revised my plan. I'm going to print out stuff to hand to canvassers. Party-specific stuff. I will speak to them as well, but, because people say the canvassers aren't necessarily clued up, it seems appropriate to give them some written material to back up what I will say.

For example, to a Green Party canvasser, a print out of the news story about them ejecting a woman GC member who wouldn't go along with fairy pronouns, and say, as I give it to the canvasser - "and this is one of the reasons I won't be voting Green". Then they can go away and think about it, and maybe even show it to their mum or their flatmate when they get home.

Suggestions welcome for the print outs. I have a good few already, but more welcome.

This is worth repeating.